Coming out ahead.

• Author: SITTER, KEN
• Position: Marketing firm, theTheodore William Group - Brief Article

Northern firm competes with major players from south

Hard on the heels of signing their first major client based outside of Northern Ontario, Theodore William Group is preparing to jump into the southern Ontario market with both feet.

The North Bay marketing and communications company, less than five years old, is set to spring into action, buying a larger Toronto company later this year.

"We have a short list," says co-founder of the company, Theo Margaritis, who declines to divulge further details. Margaritis is half of the Theodore William brain trust that has quickly moved from nowhere, to being a contender for any high-end marketing project in Northern Ontario.

The company, founded by Margaritis and fellow Nipissing University graduate Bill Ferguson in 1996, recently signed a contract with Wescom Solutions Inc. of Mississauga, a health care software company with more than 1,000 clients internationally.

"It's encouraging to see a Northern Ontario firm involved in the marketing of a leading-edge company like Wescom," Ferguson says. "I think it shows that Northern firms can compete on an equal footing with the major players from the south and come out ahead."

It's not the first deal in southern Ontario for the firm, he adds. Margaritis maintains a home-office in his home in Toronto and works there occasionally. However, the recent signing with the Mississauga-based company is an indication the company is ready for the push south, he says.

"We like Northern Ontario. We're very happy in North Bay. We're not just content, but really happy with what North Bay has done for us," Margaritis says.

The company boasts a client list that includes the successful North Bay Heritage Festival and Air Show, the Northern Ontario Heritage Nipissing University, Canadore Insurance, and the forestry industry.

That's a far cry from the initial plans of the two recent university grads who had first thought of selling advertising on washroom billboards. Ferguson's a history major and Margaritis is a geography major. The washroom billboard idea was discarded after some thought, he adds.

"We had a preference to get into strategy and design rather than just sell space," Margaritis says, explaining the shift to high-end marketing, a task that seemed just as unlikely for two novices as washroom billboards.

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